>> were you a fan of "idol"? >> i'm mara schiavocampo. this is "first look" on msnbc. way too early starts right now. there's a lot of tragedy here. there's a lot of sorrow here. but the thing i ham most sad of, sad about is -- sorry. that the single most trusting human being i've ever met will never be able to trust in the same way again in his life. that's an incredible tragedy. >> notre dame officials standing by their man defending te'o as a

victim of an elaborate hoax. i beware, i don't think anything can be untraceable these days unless you write it on a paper and then burn it. thanks for being up with us on this january 17th. a ton of news to cover including president obama turning up the heat on congress. yesterday laying out his wish list for a sweeping bill on gun control. even through what would ronald reagan do reference for good measure. plus more on the bombshell report that te'o's girlfriend that inspired him did not, in fact, exist. we'll break down all the details but lance armstrong is the sports story the year and it's bizarre. first let's get to the news live here at 5:30 a.m. at 30 rock in

new york city. we begin this morning with gun violence in america. president obama planning to introduce legislation next week calling for the biggest changes to gun laws this country has seen in two decades. yesterday the president surrounded by children who wrote him letters after the newtown tragedy urged congress to take action on a number of proposals including universal background checks for anyone buying a gun, restoring the ban on military style assault weapons and limiting magazines to ten rounds, giving law enforcement additional tools to prosecute gun crimes and improving the mental health system for young people in this country. the president also outlined 23 executive orders that mostly reinforced existing laws, speaking directly to congress he urged action despite a tough political road ahead. >> this will be difficult. there will be pundits and politicians and special interest lobbyists publicly warning of a

tyrannical all out assault on on liberty. not because that's true but because they want to gin up fear or higher ratings or revenue for themselves. the only way we'll be able to change is if their audience, their constituents, their membership says this time must be different. that this time we must do something to protect our communities and our kids. weapons designed for the theater of war have no place in a movie theater. a majority of americans agree with us on this. and by the way, so did ronald reagan, one of the staunches defenders of the second amendment who wrote to congress in 1994 urging them, this is ronald reagan speaking, urging them to listen to the american public and to the law enforcement community and support a ban on the further

manufacture of military style assault weapons. >> if you're wondering why president obama has gone so big on this he called the shootings in newtown his worst day as president of the united states. yesterday he spoke about one of the young sandy hook victims whose parents were in the crowd. >> grace was 7 years old when she was struck down. just a gorgeous, caring, joyful little girl. i'm told she loved pink. she loved the beach. she dreamed of becoming a painter. chris, her father, gave me one of her paintings. and i hung it in my private study just off the oval office. and every time i look at that painting i think about grace. and i think about the life that she lived and the life that lay ahead of her. and most of all i think about how when it comes to protecting

the most vulnerable among us we must act now. >> and during a gun violence prevention hearing on capitol hill, the newtown school superintendent shared her views about the children lost on that want day. >> we're all forever changed. some families have a huge hole left by a 6-year-old who should be doing the funny silly things that 6-year-old dose. families who have their children are still suffering through the nightmares and fears of sounds and strangers. children who are even fearful in their own classrooms. who knows what the long term impact will be for those children who had the innocence of childhood shattered. i've heard the measure of a society is how they treat their children. so help me give these children their futures. >> a parent of a 6-year-old myself i can't imagine that entire dynamic. as you might expect the national rifle association responded to

the president writing in part attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation, only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitablity of more tragedy. a new ad that brings the president's own children into the debate is repugnant and cowardly. the nra offered this explanation to nbc's andrea mitchell. >> children of presidents have been off limits for decades. >> we know. >> there's been an understanding we don't talk particularly about minor children. >> nobody named his children. >> as the president urges the public to get involved in this debate, new polling shows the country is increasingly divided on this issue. the latest cnn "time" opinion research poll shows 55% americans favor stricter gun

laws and 44% oppose them. 60% say it's too easy for people to buy a gun in the u.s., over 60% say stricter laws would not reduce the amount of violence in the country. that's pretty much confusion by the numbers. the public is also split on the cause of gun violence. just 23% say it's due to the availability of weapons. most responded that either parenting or popular culture are to blame. let's talk a bit more on the politics here of gun control. listen, what president obama proposed is sweeping and it's huge. the conversation now is what can actually get passed? give us a sense of what measures go passed? >> very little can get passed in the next couple of years. there's no doubt it's an emotionally charge issue. the polling numbers show that there does seem to be some

movement at the public at large. but in congress there's simply is not. particularly among republicans and house republicans specifically. you talk to these members. teen moderate members in suburban districts even those in the northeast. they hear very little from their constituents in terms of stricter gun laws. i don't think there's any appetite among republicans to bring a bill to the floor in the house. >> so why do this then? you know, you have john boehner speaker of the house saying it's the senate's job and joe scarborough talks about how the nra being on the fringe now and the republicans are up against it in terms of an identity in their party. is this sort of the president using leverage to make the republicans look bad or what's the motivation? >> no. i think you take the president at his word. it was his worse day in office. it was a gut wrenching moment for the entire country. he believes this is the time to push these additional gun measures. dmoes politics of this are

tough. listen 30 years your don't touch gun control. that is sort of, a bedrock principle of politics among democrats and republicans. what he's trying to do is change 20 years of politics. it doesn't happen in two months. it might be the beginning of a debate that over time might change the trajectory of gun politics. doubtful. but a lot of conservative democrats in the last 20 years that weighed in on guns have paid a political consequence for that partly because of the nra and partly because of other gun groups and a lot of people who are hunters and own weapons they don't want the government to going after their guns they want them to go after criminals or people who have mental issues. >> joe makes the die tings between the nra membership and leadership. is the fear of the nra, is it that great on capitol hill? >> i think the nra is one of the most powerful lobbies in american politics today but it's not just the nra that has members fearful.

members respond to incentives. incentive is re-election. in a lot of southern districts most of these people are hunters. most are gun owners and they don't like people touching their guns. they don't need to be nra members to have that feeling. the nra is powerful. these outside groups get more credit than they deserve. there's a bunch of people that own guns they don't need an nra sticker to feel passionate about that issue. >> we'll see you later on "morning joe." now to a developing overseas where american citizens are among dozens of people being held in a hostage standoff. this is unfolding now in the is a had-- sahara desert. dozens of hostages who work at the plant including americans. officials say at least two people were killed during the raid. the militants claim the take is revenge for france's military

operation against rebels in neighboring mali. the u.s. providing assistance to that effort. take a listen to leon panetta talking about this standoff. >> by all indications this is a terrorist act and the united states strongly condemns these kinds of terrorist acts. it's a very serious matter when americans are taken hostage along with others. >> the algierian military says it has the oil compound is your rounded adding it will not negotiate with the militants. a bad week for boeing's new 787 dreamliner getting worse. the faa has indefinitely grounded the new jetliner barring it from commercial use until a battery problem is addressed. europe, japan, india all followed suit. this comes after a japanese airline using the 787 was forced to make an emergency landing yesterday when the pilot smelled smoke.

the incident comes just a week after a fire in the belly of another 787 in boston. officials are focusing on the aircraft's lithium batteries which overheat and sometimes catch fire. you have to know in the u.s., only united airlines is using the boeing 787. what does it mean for the future of the dreamliner? let's go to my colleague in london. >> very good to see you. the reaction of boeing, in session it dragged down the dow after hours. ing dragged down the market. real concerns about this. boeing says it stands by the integrity of the design and plane itself but it's a key player and sales items going forward. it costs $2 million per plane and part of the revival strategy of boeing. real concerns on this one as well and as you say centering around that battery when overcharged can catch fire. the company that makes that is a

japanese company. their shares down 18% since january 7th. >> billions of dollars of odds for that plane. it goes away bad news for the dow component. as always, why are you up with us? shoot me an e-mail. waytooearly@msnbc.com. jump on board. we'll read the best responses on the show. still ahead we'll try to unravel the sports mystery the yeaof th says he was the victim of a hoax. we'll have more on that story next. jimmy kimmel infects hollywood with his late night comedy. we'll show you how people on the street react. we'll have that clip and a check of whether when way too early

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ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. a.m. eastern time. i think, you know, we go bill karins for the weather. i love new york. it's waking up but it's not freezing. nice to walk the streets as they are cleaning up the mess from the day before. and not a lot of snow left on the ground although my kids did not have snow yesterday. >> a lot of places in southern

new england got school cancelled. now school cancelations in the deep south. millions of kids are looking forward to their first snow of the season. we're talking virginia, north carolina through the mountains of north carolina all the way back down to alabama, mississippi. ten different states now with winter storm warnings that are issued and this is the south. it only takes about an inch or two for a mess out there. they don't have the plows like they do in the north. this is the snowfall forecast totals by the time we're done tomorrow. two to four inches from raleigh to richmond. birmingham, alabama an inch or two. washington, d.c. maybe just about a slushy inch or less. most of it should be to the south you down towards fredericksburg. much of virginia will be nasty. mississippi, live right now. you can imagine schools are probably already getting cancelled down there in areas of mississippi. as far as the forecast will go, again the worst of it will be this morning in mississippi, alabama up into north carolina and the mountains later today. tonight virginia and north carolina, no problems at all in

new england. this storm is a miss four. if you're in the south and the southeast it's like 50 degrees right now in raleigh. tomorrow morning at this time you'll be shoveling. >> they don't know how to drive in the snow either. >> it's a shut down situation two to four inches down there. >> thanks. we're not going talk about lame hitting 20,000 points and 5,000 assists. >> you just did. >> i know. the thing is we have to have the whole sports block devoted to the most bizarre story heard in a long time out of college football best known and most admired stars. his reputation is in serious jeopardy. manti te'o story is a familiar one. according to various media outlets, his grandmother and his girlfriend died of cancer within six hours this past september. >> last september his beloved grandmother died of cancer and on the same day, just hours later, his girlfriend died after a long battle with illuminate.

>> his girlfriend who was battling leukemia had died. >> emotional week losing your grandmother then your girlfriend on tuesday. how would you describe your emotions on the fielding tonight. >> they are with me. i couldn't do without them. i couldn't do it without the support of my family. >> as the season went on his story became the focal point of the team's undefeated regular season. yesterday a report from dead spin.com put the very existence of te'o's girlfriend in doubt. and the athletic director held a news conference saying te'o was victimized by an internet hoax. >> in many ways manti te'o was the perfect mark because he's a guy so ready to believe in others and ready to help that as this hoax played out in a way that called upon those

tendencies of te'o and roped him more and more into the trap. nothing about what i've learned has shaken my faith in manti te'o one iota. every sing bicycle this until that day in the first week of december was real to te'o. there was no suspicion that it wasn't. no believe it might not be. the pain was real. the grief was real. >> here's what we know. te'o's relationship was limited to online and telephone interactions despite an early report that they met in person after a november 2009 game against stanford. on december 6th of this year, three months after she supposedly died, te'o received a call that he recognized as his girlfriend telling him she's not dead. two days later he said i don't

like cancer at all. i lost my grandparents and a fwoifr to cancer. it wasn't until december 26th that te'o told notre dame about the situation. notre dame received a report from an investigation but chose not publicly address the matter that is until the story broke yesterday. deadspin.com linked the girlfriend's account to an acquaintance of te'o. they believe he created the female according to deadspin the only pictures online are actually pictures of a 22-year-old woman who gave the photos but said she didn't know how they were being used. we're not going to quiz you on this afterwards. it's unbelievable. right now te'o is denying any involvement in the hoogs. he said this is incredibly

embarrassing to talk about but over an extended period of time i developed an emotional relationship with a woman i met online. we maintained what i thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone and i fwru to care deeply about her to realize i was a victim of what was someone's sick joke and constant lies was and is painful and humiliating. the details of this story are going to continue to emerge. we're left with two possible characterizations. either a gullible college kid or a young man on the verge of a multimillion career who has some serious character issues. we'll have a whole lot more when deadspin's managing editor joins us. president obama urging the nation to rally behind his proposals on gun violence in america. but it may be members of congress who need the most

convincing. the "morning joe" crewaways in on that. when we come back here we'll huddle around the watercooler where if you haven't had a flu shot you'll want to watch one after watching the skit on kimmel. so if you have a flat tire, dead battery, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geico's emergency roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah? yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

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all right. let's huddle around the

watercooler. lewis. hey. is this crazy? >> it's bizarre. >> a good screen writer. >> we don't have time for this. >> is your girlfriend real? >> she's real. i met her. i met her in person. >> has she worn those hot shoes yet? >> they are telling us we have a -- >> more than alabama to hurt his draft chances, by the way. >> listen. one story today. since we're less than six feet apart right now i feed full disclosure. did you get your flu shot? >> i did not. >> you have children? >> i do. >> that's not good. >> won't touch anybody today i promise. >> the problem is that like me, i haven't got my flu shot. if you don't get your flu shot you're peritrifiepetrified.

last night on kimmel he sent one much his correspondents out to hollywood boulevard to talk to people and see how they feel about catching the flu. take a look. >> hi. nice to see you. i'm the flu. >> get away from me. get away. >> why? >> because i don't want it. >> don't be a flu hater. >> hey high five. i have the flu. sorry. i have the flu. i have the flu. just went to you. congratulations. high five. we have the flu together now. yeah. i have the flu. i have the flu. it's an influenza extravaganza. come on. can i tell you something? i have the flu. i have had the flu all week. got it? come on. come on. we're flusies. put it here. >> don't worry.

i'll give it to somebody else. >> okay. we'll be right back. or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios